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Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Built The Row Into a $1 Billion Label by Keeping It Private. Their Spotify Playlists Are the Rare Window In.

Backed by Chanel's owners and L'Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the Olsens' $1 billion label treats sound as craft, just as sound designer Frédéric Sanchez says much of luxury has put its music on autopilot.

As Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s The Row takes on its first Paris Fashion Week as a member of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode (FHCM), the label arrives with some of the most powerful backers in luxury. In 2024, Chanel owners Alain and Gérard Wertheimer and L’Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers bought minority stakes in the brand at a valuation of roughly $1 billion, with the Olsens keeping majority control. What the sisters have built with that control is a tightly held universe, and sound is one of its most deliberate layers. The Row’s monthly Spotify playlists have become part of the brand’s mystique; September’s edition pulled 1980s tracks from minimalist R&B legend Sade and dance-pop figure George Michael. With just over 100,000 followers, the playlists are a modest presence by social media standards, which suits a brand that trades on keeping its audience small.

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The Row’s attention to sound comes as the music industry leans harder on fashion money, and as many........

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